EAR WE GO
Medic discovers giant lump of dried wax matted with hair blocking man’s ear
A MEDICAL practitioner had to use forceps to remove a giant lump of dried wax matted with hair that had been blocking a man's ear.
The patient had attended a clinic in Leicester with what he thought was a blocked ear - but soon discovered that the reality was much worse.
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Consultant Audiologist Neel Raithatha at The Hear Clinic in Oadby found that an entire gram of ear wax had be blocking the patient's ear.
Once Neel looked at the problem, he noted the dried ear wax had dead skin around it and was matted with hair.
The ear wax and dead skin were stuck together and crammed in and Neel spent 10 minutes removing as much gunk as he could.
Once he had removed the wax from the ear he was shocked to see it weighed over a gram.
Neel said: “This gentleman presented with occluding blocked dry ear wax and dead skin in both ears which was also matted with hair.
“The gentleman also had underlying Otitis Externa, which is a condition that can cause itchiness, dryness and/or inflammation of the external ear canal.
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“Given the severity of the ear wax and dead skin impaction, I had to use an array of ENT micro-instrumentation, such as micro suction, ear hook, ear curette and forceps.
“After the procedure I weighed the ear wax, and to my surprise, it surpassed the one gram mark!”
Shocking pictures from after the surgery show the hair which was all clumped together.
Neel was able to capture the extraction on camera and images from the procedure show inside the ear and the wax inside.
According to the NHS Otitis Externa, also known as swimmer's ear, is a condition that causes inflammation of the external ear canal.
Some people with the condition can experience a discharge of liquid or pus from the ear.
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The NHS states that complications from the condition are uncommon.
However, one rare complication of otitis externa is necrotising otitis externa.
This is where an infection spreads from the ear canal into the surrounding bone.
If this happens it is usually treated with antibiotics or sometimes surgery.
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